2019-05-01_Mountain_Bike_Rider

£2,499

Thelatest35mm

diameterbarandstem

comboboostsstiffness,

butit’ssomewhatlost

with the spindly fork

Anyoneremember10-speed

drivetrains?Perfectfor

£500hardtails,notideal on

a £2.5k trail bike

Verdict

Atrailbikeit maybe,butKona’sHei

HeiTrailis definitelymoreontheXC

wavelength,eventhoughit’sstilla

140mm-travelbike.

It’slight,efficientandsurprisingly

capable,butis hamstrungbya

budgetfork,10-speeddrivetrain

andhard-compoundtyres.

Soeventhoughtheframehas

lotsofpotentialasa pumped-up

XC/trailbike,Konahasn’t delivered

thegoodsnecessary

toreallymake

thisbikeshine.

Ultimately,the

HeiHeiTrailis

waytooexpensive

for what you get.

kona hei hei trail

Specification
Frame 6061
aluminium,
140mmtravel
ShockRockShox
DeluxeRL
ForkRockShox
ReconGoldRL,
140mmtravel
WheelsShimano
Deorehubs,WTB
STPi29rims,
MaxxisMinion
DHF/Tomahawk
27.5x2.3intyres
DrivetrainRaceFace
Aeffect32tchainset,
ShimanoDeore1x10
r-mechandshifter
BrakesShimano
MT500,180/160mm
ComponentsKona
XC/BC760mm
bar,KonaXC/BC
70mmstem,Tranz-X
dropper150mm,
WTBVoltSport
SEsaddle
SizesXS,S,M,L, XL
Weight14.21kg
(3 1. 33lb)
Contact
konaworld.com

Geometry
SizetestedL
Headangle67. 5°
Seatangle72.4°
BBheight338mm
Chainstay425mm
Frontcentre
750mm
Wheelbase1,175mm
Downtube707mm
Toptube610mm
Reach 455mm

l

astmonthwetestedtheHeiHei

CR/DLinourpumped-upXCbike

test.Thatbikeis a 100mmXC

ripperwitha longer-travelfork,

andit hasa lotincommonwith

theHeiHeiTrailtestedhere.

Bothmodelsemploypivot-lessrear

stayswherematerialflexis usedto

eliminatetherearmostpivots,reducing

complexity,weightandmaintenance.The

maindifferencetoKona’sFusedesignis

thatthealloyTrailversionherepumps

out140mmofrear-wheeltravel,but

retainsshort425mmchainstays.

Itis hardtosayjusthowmuch

weighttheFusesuspensionactually

saves,butmostXCbikesusea similar

configurationand,at14.21kg,theKona

HeiHeiTrailis thesecondlightestbikein

test,witheasilytheworstbuildkit.

If youlookatthegeometryonthe

HeiHeiTrailit appearstohavebeen

designedtohavemoreincommon

withmodernXC bikes than its rivals

inthistest.

SuSpenSion

A trunnion-mountedRockShoxDeluxe

RLshockcontrolsthe140mmreartravel,

and Kona has done a good job with the

shocktune.We’reofaverageweightand

wereabletorunthereboundadjusterin

a midsetting;thespringeffectoftheflex

stayswasonlynoticeableonbiggerhits.

Theshockis alsomountedniceand

lowintheframetoaidstability,but

thismeansthelockoutleveris a bitofa

stretchwhenthesaddleis atfullheight.

Alsoit’smoreofa firmthresholdthan

a full-blownlockout,whichis great

becauseit stillallowsthesuspensionto

tracktheterrainforgripwhileclimbing.

Matchingtravelupfrontis the

140mm-travelRockShoxReconGold

fork.It hasa smooth,plushaction,

butthespindly32mmupperlegsfeel

woefullyinadequatecomparedtothe

beefierforksonalloftheotherbikes.

Atleastyouknowthedampingis

workingovertime,becauseyoucan

hearit wheezingafterevery impact.

componentS

WegaveKonaa massivelegupin

thistestbyswappingthebasic60a

MaxxistyresontheHeiHeiTrailfor

softer,grippierandmorecomposed3C

MaxxTerrarubber.Konaisn’tdoingitself

anyfavourswiththerestofthebuildkit.

Sure,the10-speedShimanoDeore

drivetrain offers slick, precise shifting

andnevermisseda beat,butwitha 42t

cogbeingthebiggestonthecassette,

yourheartwillbebeatingdouble-time

onsteeperclimbs.

Thankfully,the30tRaceFace

chainringhelpshere,butit’seffectively

robbingPetertopayPaul,becausea

relativelyfitriderwilleasilyspinthe

gearsoutona flatfireroad,especially

withthosefast-rollingtyres.Thebiggest

issue,though,is youcan’tevenupgrade

thedrivetrainwithoutchanging virtually

everycomponentpart.

performance

Tenminutesintoourfirstoutingonthe

Konaandthephrase“neverjudgea

bookbyitscover”instantlysprangto

mind.Initially,whenpullingtheKonaout

ofthevan,wewerejokingabouthowit

lookedlikea trailbikefromyesteryear,

withitsrangy70mmstem,spindly

32mmfork,10-speedtransmissionand

neonpaintjob.Thethingis,it didn’t

ridelikea datedbike.Infact,the

oppositewastrue,theshortchainstays

andspringysuspensionofferinga lively

andengagingride.

Yes,thesuspensionis nothinglikeas

plushorplantedastheTrekorCanyon,

buttheKonafeltstiffandefficientunder

power.Andwiththesteepestseatangle

intest,andthatWTBVoltsaddletilting

yourpelvisforward,it wassuper-easy

tokeepyourweightoverthefronton

climbs.Nodoubtthe70mmstemhelped

heretoo.

GettheKonaintomorechallenging

terrain,however,andit quicklycomes

unstuck.Theshortwheelbase,steep

headangleandelevatedBBheight

makeit moreofa white-knuckleride

tobeendured,ratherthanenjoyed.

ThankfullythebudgetShimanobrakes

aresomeofthebestavailable,allowing

ustonursethe Hei Hei Trail home in

one piece.

2 7.5in trail bikeS

58 mbr M ay 2 019